Developing a Collaborative Interprofessional programme, Challenges and Lessons Learned

Hislop, Jane; Hillen, Peter

Abstract

In 2019 a new post-graduate, pre-registration, collaborative programme in Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Social Work was developed at Edinburgh Napier University. The rationale for the programme was to prepare health and social care graduates for the changing context of integrated health and social care. Traditionally, health and social care education has been uni-professional with research suggesting that Higher Education is poor in preparing graduates for integrated working. The aim was that through early interprofessional education (IPE), where students ‘learn with, from and about each other’ they would develop a good understanding of their own as well as other profession’s roles and responsibilities and be better prepared for interprofessional practice.
For the programme team challenges came from agreeing a curriculum where IPE was embedded through meaningful learning experiences. There were challenges in bringing together three professions with disparate theoretical foundations, from biomedical to social sciences backgrounds.
Tensions arose between profession specific learning and recognising generic knowledge and skills whilst avoiding curriculum overload. There were challenges in ensuring that students developed confidence in their own professional specific identity, knowledge and skills, at a time when this had not yet developed.
In curriculum design, the team reached agreement on commonalities in terms of desirable knowledge, skills and values such as kindness, knowledge of the lived experiences of others and communication skills. These formed the basis of collaborative modules.
Early evaluation found that students value shared learning experiences with peers. For some there is frustration with time spent on what they deemed to be less important such as ‘softer skills’ or research skills. This may reflect the natural transition that students encounter in Masters level study, which takes them beyond learning clinical skills. Lessons learned are to prepare students for IPE and to highlight how IPE experiences relate to their own profession.

Citation

Hislop, J., & Hillen, P. (2021, June). Developing a Collaborative Interprofessional programme, Challenges and Lessons Learned. Presented at University of Edinburgh Learning and Teaching Conference 2021: Curriculum as a site for Transformation, Edinburgh

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: University of Edinburgh Learning and Teaching Conference 2021: Curriculum as a site for Transformation
• Start Date: Jun 15, 2021
• Acceptance Date: May 31, 2021
• Deposit Date: May 2, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/4281508